Equity, Expectancy, and Goal Setting Theory - Essay Example

1. Success for every business has some critical factors. It is important that these factors are molded. Motivation is one of them. It is important that Peter Finch ensures that Matt is motivated so that performance improves. Motivated people are more contend. They have focus. They have higher satisfaction. Employees feel a part of the company. (Smith & Robert, 1994, p. 145) There are various motivational tools and theories which will help Peter Finch to help improve the performance of Matt. These tools will help the management to ensure that performance improves. The theories are as follows Maslow Hierarchy of Needs Theory Every individual has certain needs and wants and they work towards accomplishing those called the Psychological need. When a person achieves these basic needs he moves higher up in the hierarchy and wants Safety. Once this is satisfied he needs a Social status and he starts to crave for it. He wants respect in the society, and a sense of belongingness. When he achieves this he wants to move higher up and crave for Esteem needs. He continues to work harder until his last need i.e. the need for self Actualisation is achieved. (Robbins, Judge, Millet, Waters-Marsh T, 2008, p 123) This theory can be used extensively by Peter Finch. It will help the management to ensure that Matt is motivated differently as per the requirements. This theory will provide Peter Finch to look towards the different position of the hierarchy he needs to aim at so that Matt is motivated. It is quite evident that Matt’s basic need of hunger is satisfied i.e. his psychological need is satisfied and Peter Finch needs to work on the social needs as Matt compares his performance with Jack and despite performing for the well being of the organization his performance is not identified. Peter Finch needs to ensure that he works towards identifying the performance of Matt and provide him the social status that he needs. This will motivate Matt and will ensure that he performs better. Equity Theory It says that “employees compare their job inputs like efforts, experience, education to their outputs like salary level, recognition, incentives in relation to their peers to reduce inequality” (Robbins, Judge, Millet, Waters-Marsh T, 2008, p. 123) Peter Finch can use it to ensure that employees compare their performance with each other. This will give a push to the workforce and also ensure that the equity prevails. This will make the employees feel part of the organisation and performance will improve. Matt who compares his performance with Jack finds that despite all his efforts to ensure that the organization grows and the clients are satisfied his contribution is not recognized. Instead Peter Finch identifies the contribution made by Jack. This is on the backdrop that Jack has used the name of the company and manipulated things. This has resulted in the creation of inequity and requires that Peter Finch realizes the importance of the situation and ensures that the performances of employees are evaluated in such a way that there is equity in organization. Expectancy Theory This theory says that employees are motivated to work harder when they know that their hard efforts would lead to good appraisal and this appraisal will result in incentives like bonuses, promotions and so on and this would lead towards the satisfaction of employees as his personal goals will be achieved. (Stephen and Timothy, 2007, p 45) This will push the employees to work harder. It will also ensure that when an employee gets incentive their drive to perform better increase. This will make the hard working employees to put in more effort and the non-monetary incentive will further motivate the employees. This is something missing in the organization and Peter Finch needs to look towards developing it. Matt has developed the perception that despite working hard and contributing towards the performance of the organization his efforts are not recognized. Instead the organization recognizes the efforts of Jack who has manipulated things and work only for money. This has demotivated Matt and makes him feel that the evaluation parameters adopted by the organization is improper. This makes it important that Peter Finch understands the importance of the situation and ensures that Matt and Jack both are recognized according to their efforts and need to ensure that the expectations of Matt matches with his performance. Goal setting Theory It says that “an employee is given a specific goal he has to achieve and the goal is made in such a way that it brings the best out of him”. (Jacob, 2008, p 1) This will ensure that employees in the organization who are capable of delivering performance up to that. It will thus motivate the talented ones to show their capability. It will also force others in the organisation to match that standard and the performance for the organization will improve. This is not evident in the case as Matt despite his efforts and setting the goals that helps to provide best services to the client and build the brand image of the organization is not recognized. Matt looks towards achieving the goals by using the resources optimally and ensuring that the clients do not have to pay extra for the things not required. Matt ensures that the goals look towards bringing the best out of him whereas Jack looks towards exploiting the clients by asking them to pay extra for things which are not required. Both the employees look towards achieving the goals but Matt follows a more conservative approach and ensures that the clients are not over compensated. Despite Matt’s efforts the management has not recognized him which has demotivated him and created a perception that all his efforts are a waste and will not help him to prosper in the organization. Peter Finch can thus use this motivational tools and theories to ensure that employees are motivated to perform better. This will lead to a transformation of activities in the organisation and will ensure that employees’ performance improves 2. Peter Finch needs to ensure that Matt is motivated as he is a vital part of the organization and motivating him will ensure that the organization is able to achieve its objectives better. Peter Finch needs to make use of Matt’s intensity in the right direction. This should be a continuous process as an employee who is motivated remains for a long time with the organisation. People use both their intrinsic and extrinsic goals to be motivated. Intrinsic goals is growth whereas extrinsic is money. Study has shown that “physiological threat increases priority people give to extrinsic goals”. (Smith & Robert, 1994, p. 146) Peter Finch should look towards using a mix of both intrinsic and extrinsic reward to motivate Matt. It is important for Peter Finch to realise the fact that all the human needs cannot be satisfied through money. Employees need to be motivated through measures other than monetary like respect, recognition for the work done and social status. (Lowery, 1998, p 4) This will help a lot and ensure that the organization is able to perform better. Even a study reveals that employee retention holds prime importance for the business units and by using the intrinsic rewards helps to retain the employees, improves satisfaction and creates a bright career prospect. (Tymon, Stumpf & Doh, 2010, p. 109) This makes it important that Peter Finch looks towards retaining Matt and uses different motivational tools so that Matt is able to perform similarly. Motivation & satisfaction has a positive relationship. A person who is satisfied is highly motivated leading to improvement in performance. A research shows that more than 50% of employees showed that there was some relation between the two and this was due to leadership and emotional intelligence that was present in the team. (Ross & Eeden, 2008, p 39) Thus employees who are motivated have a better performance ratio. Peter Finch needs to realize this and ensure that his efforts are directed towards motivating Matt. A study in this direction shows that when an employee is motivated the communication process passes without any barrier and information flows freely through the organisation as the employees feels a part of the organisation and share the same common goal. (Alexander, Page & Wentling, 2003, p 27) This thereby benefits the organization and helps the organization to grow. This makes it important that Peter Finch uses the different motivational tool to motivate Matt so that he is able to concentrate on the job in hand. This will help to motivate him and further improve the performance of the organization Thus, Peter Finch needs to take all steps that helps to ensure that Matt is motivated and remains with the organization. This will help the organization to grow and ensure that the organization is able to perform similarly. This will help both Matt and Peter Finch and will ensure that the reputation of the company improves and develops towards the well being of the organization References Alexander, A., Page, V. & Wentling, T. (2003). Motivation & barriers to participation in virtual knowledge sharing, Volume 7, Issue 1, pp. 23-29 Jacob, M. (2008). Locke’s Goal Setting Theory, Understanding SMART Goal setting, Mind Tools Ltd, p. 1 Lowery, M. (1998). The hierarchical effect: Maslow Hierarchy. Belmont, Thomson Learning, pp. 2-7 Robbins, Judge, Millet, Waters-Marsh T, (2008). Organisational Behaviour, 5th Edition, Pearson Education, p. 123 Ross, W. & Eeden, R. (2008). Relationship between motivation, job satisfaction and corporate culture. Journal of Industrial Psychology, Volume 34, Number 1, pp. 37- 43 Stephen, R. and Timothy, J. (2007). Organisational Behaviour, 12th Edition, Prentice Hall of India Private Limited, New Delhi, pp 33-48 Smith, C. & Robert, D. (1994). The Psychology of work and human performance. 2nd edition, New York, Collins, pp. 143-148 Tymon, W., Stumpf, S. & Doh, J. (2010). Exploring talent management in India: The neglected role of intrinsic reward. Journal of World Business, Volume 45, Issue 2, page 109, Greenwich Read More